His Dark Materials series by Phillip Pullman

Made up of three books (there will be no more in the series), His Dark Materials include: “The Golden Compass”, “The Subtle Knife” and “The Amber Spyglass”. Set in a world as metaphysical as mythical, it is a land seemingly similar to ours. In the first book, a young orphaned girl named Lyra wanders around an “other-Oxford”, discovering deadly secrets about herself and her world. Lyra’s Oxford is a place where bears talk, witches are accepted as normal (if not welcome), and people’s souls are represented by “daemons”, creatures who are with them constantly. In the second book Will, a young boy from our reality, crosses over to Lyra’s world. In the third book, Lyra and Will join forces to a very dark end. The books took me a very long time to get into, but again, I had students who insisted I “had” to read them, so I stuck with it. The level of description is high, almost like Dickens, and the world Lyra inhabits is one of great complexity and many levels. Pullman pulls no punches in these books, and without revealing too much, I urge readers not to get too connected to *any* character in the series. All three books had a sad quality I don’t personally care for, but a tone that fit perfectly with the story that needed to be told. Both the first and second novels end with gasping cliff-hangars, so make sure to have the next volume ready. I warmed up more and more with each book, mostly as I began to “get” what the author was after. Interestingly enough, most students who read the series tell me they like the first book the best and successive books less well. I often compare the series to Harry Potter, saying it is like “J.K Rowling translated by Jeopardy winners”. It becomes much less Harry Potter after the first novel, with Pullman’s real agenda becoming more and more apparent. Phillip Pullman, the son of a Lutheran minister, raised on the Christian allegories in the works of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, became a fairly angry atheist. Determined to write the “anti-Christian” young adult novels, he succeeds fairly brilliantly with this elongated tale, and I have to say I found humor in his twisting of the traditional metaphors to bring in his alternate belief system. By the third book, his attack against traditionalism becomes quite clear (I don’t want to offer details and give it away). I would recommend that you be “open” to a variety of religious interpretations before tackling it. Needless to say, this series has been utterly demonized by the extreme Christian fundamentalists, and I can honestly say (for once in my life) that I see their point, even if I don’t necessarily agree with it. But we live in America, a land based in part on religious pluralism and dedicated to free speech. Pullman has written a powerful and intense series with great literary merit. Young people can, and should, read his work and decide for themselves whether their experiences line up with those in the story.

The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer

I read this because one of my 7th grade students told me I “simply had to”. He proclaimed it the “best book” he had ever read. After reading Nancy Farmer’s Newbery Honor title “A Girl Named Disaster” I was hesitant to delve into another Farmer book. I found “A Girl Named Disaster” to be overly long, interesting but not engaging. Nevertheless, when a student proclaims I “must” read something (which is how I discovered Phillip Pullman), I tend to listen. I dove in and was immediately floored. The subject matter and story are dense, the concepts both scary and intriguing. That 7th grade student was one smart cookie! “The House of the Scorpion” takes place in the near future, when a “drug zone” nation has been set up between the United States and Mexico (now named “Aztlan”). The deal is, they let the drug lords have their own country to grow whatever they wish, and the drug lords agree not to sell it to either of the bordering nations. That, however, is not the main story. This is a time when cloning and medical manipulations are commonplace. “Modified” humans are used as slaves to farm the fields and clones are used as body parts to keep one of the most powerful of the drug lords, Matteo Alacran, alive long past the time of a natural death. Alacran, like most drug lords, is both dangerous and egotistical. When it becomes clear that not even the cloned body parts can keep him alive, he orders the production of a new clone, “Matt” who is both son and mirror image, and is possibly the person replace him if he eventually dies. The book is Matt’s story, literally from inception, and the awareness he has of his own “personhood” is challenged throughout. The ending is somewhat open, not unlike Lowry’s “The Giver”, but this tale will stay with you for a good long time. Deeply disturbing and brilliant on many levels, this book has won oodles of awards – the Printz Award, the National Book Award, the Newbery Honor – all quite justified. My student was right. Although long and painful at times, you simply MUST read this one.

Thief by Megan Whalen Turner

Ms. Turner is part of that group of young adult authors who showed up a few years back and really energized books for teens. This is an action-packed fantasy about cocky thief, Gen, who ends up over his head when caught between the warring royalty of two provinces in a mystical land. Ms. Turner manages to get the moral across without being the least bit preachy and also manages to throw in a good number of twists and surprises along the way. The action is a tad more violent than you might expect, but the goriest of details are left to the imagination, and overall the tone is one of talking *to* the reader, not *down* to them. My one complaint is that this book has a slow start. I found I had to push myself a good 40 pages or so into it before it hooked me…but then it really hooked me. Refreshing to see a story where you can’t predict what will happen next. I also like the mystery aspect. It is truly hard at some points to figure out who is good and who is not. The book ends with quite a cliffhanger. “The Queen of Attolia” is the sequel and well worth the read. There has been another book out in the series for a while now, “The King of Attolia” which I haven’t had a chance to read. It, like everything else, will have to “go on the list”.

Squashed by Joan Bauer

Joan Bauer is one of those authors that manages to write fairly low action stories that are completely engaging. When you tell the plot of “Squashed” it sounds a little silly. Ellie, a 16 year-old girl struggling with her weight and school life, tries yet again to beat her evil neighbor at the annual pumpkin contest (to grow the largest pumpkin). What becomes clear, however, is that Ellie is a real, funny, complex and very human character that is easy to connect to. As a reader, you start rooting for her. As an older reader, it was easy to see how the obsessive focus on pumpkins helped fill the void left by her mother’s death. This is not a sad book, though. It has charm and sensitivity, and just a touch of romance. It is life through orange colored glasses (sorry, couldn’t resist). A warm-hearted tale for crispy fall weather, it’s a fast read that will put a smile on your face. If you want an outright guffaw, check out “Thwonk!” by the same author. In this story, a similarly strong-willed girl meets the cupid from heck.

Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art by Scott McCloud

LOVED IT. This is the most amazing graphic novel…about graphic novels. It’s basically a step by step guide to everything graphic. Scott takes extremely high level concepts (art history, the psychology of self awareness, the nature of communication and symbolism) and explains them all, in a reasonable progression with no dumbing down of the topic. When you finish reading his narrative, you feel like you’ve just finished a college level course on the subject. He has terrific images, using examples for the difference in styles, and a wry sense of humor throughout. I honestly can’t remember ever reading such dense material and enjoying it so thoroughly. There are numerous opportunities for discussions and theory beyond what is presented. I really think this is a book that could be used in the classroom, and very much liked.

Montmorency: Thief, Liar, Gentleman? by Eleanor Updale

Honestly, this one took me a while to get into. Advertised as a mystery, it begins in a Phillip Pullman-like England…in an uncertain time of the past where there is a degree of the fantastical makes you wonder if we are talking about reality or science fiction. Montmorency, a thief, is rescued (temporarily) from his horrific jail cell by a doctor with some unorthodox methods. While on the outside, he learns secrets that he later uses, upon his release, to steal. From there, things get a tad complicated! I began to connect with the book when I saw the humanity dawning in Montmorency. He begins as a deeply unsympathetic character, but he grows. This book is densely woven. It is a mystery, as well as an adventure tale and historical novel, but it is also the story of redemption, and one that is very slowly plotted. Montmorency will always have a thief inside, but he becomes “The Gentleman” in ways he never expected. As the reader, I appreciated his realistic struggle to bring into balance his differing personas. There are now three sequels I have not read, but based on this book, I look forward to them.

Crispin (the Cross of Lead) by Avi

This is another one of those Newbery Winners (2003) that most kids don’t warm up to. I understand to a degree. It took me a while to get into the book – I couldn’t figure out what it wanted to be. Elements of mystery, adventure, historical realism even humor wind through the narrative from chapter to chapter. That’s typical of Avi, the virtual chameleon of young adult writers, and once I just accepted it at face value I was pulled in. The story focuses on “Asta’s son”, a poor boy who must flee his village after his stepmother dies and he is accused of a crime he did not commit. There are secrets about the boy’s existence (not the least of which is “Crispin” which he learns is his name), hinted at but not solved in this novel (there has since been a sequel I have not read). I think I began to enjoy this story when the newly dubbed Crispin meets Bear – a juggler and possible thief whose philosophy of life is enjoyable and warm. The book is good, but again, not the kind of “great” that I expect of a Newbery. I preferred Avi’s “The Man Who Was Poe” and “Nothing But the Truth” to this novel, but I haven’t quite figured out the distaste for it that many students have, unless it is just too similar to history class subjects. Comments?

Ruby Holler by Sharon Creech

This book had me from the opening words. It is lyric and downright charming – a splendid addition to a body of work from the “next generation” of really good young adult authors. Sharon Creech won the Newbery with “Walk Two Moons” and that quiet and gentle novel was hugely popular, something that doesn’t typically happen with character driven stories and teens. But Ms. Creech is good…really good. Her descriptive passages are lush and often downright funny. In “Ruby Holler” her style was so engaging that I began to use passages of the book as examples with my creative writing students. The story is that of Dallas and Florida, a brother and sister who have moved from foster home to foster home, encountering rotten guardians along the way. When they finally land with a sweet elderly couple things look like they are going to work out, but I guarantee the action is real and touching, not sappy and overly sweet. Like “The Great Gilly Hopkins” for older students, and more upbeat than the Baudelaire struggles, this tale hits the perfect middle note in plethora of abandoned children sagas. Ms. Creech continues to pump them out, and I haven’t heard a negative review yet. I look forward to her ongoing efforts.

The Giver by Lois Lowry

“The Giver” is one of those “guarantee” books. I can give it to almost any kid and they will like it. I think I’ve only had two kids ever tell me they didn’t like it since it first arrived. To this day, it remains one of my favorites. The Newbery winner for 1994, this fairly sci-fi novel stunned me with its broad appeal. The reason for its universality, however, is clearly the outstanding writing and the surprising twists and turns. The book has fresh ideas and approaches even everyday activities from a different angle. Jonas, a young boy in a very authoritative world (seemingly post-apocalyptic), is awarded the unique role of becoming his community’s next “Giver”. The Giver is a wise soul who holds the memories of the people. It is in these memories that Jonas begins to struggle against the controlling yoke of his world. Without ruining too many surprises, he sees things he didn’t even realize were missing – as readers you may be surprised as well. The ending has a bit of controversy, and although the author has since stated “what really happens” it is still open-ended. The book can be taken on face value but also has tremendous symbolism and can therefore be appreciated by both the young and old. I haven’t read “Gathering Blue” or “The Messenger”, said to be companion novels rather than sequels, but word has it they are worth the time.

Catherine, Called Birdy by Karen Cushman

With one of the best openings of a middle school novel, this diary-style historical fiction book is a joy to read. For me, the best part is the lead character, Birdy, who has a strong and engaging voice, one that pulls you in and makes you feel as if you have found a new best friend. The description of the period (a noblewoman in the late 1290s) is dead on, and readers are likely to have a strong sense of the period after reading it without feeling like they have been “taught” the information. I liked this book a tad better than Cushman’s other historical piece, “Midwife’s Apprentice” solely because the protagonist is so enjoyable. She does have a good deal of “beyond the period” feminist sensibilities, which I generally do not like, but the book as a whole is written so well I honestly didn’t mind it. Thoroughly enjoyable.

Pedro and Me by Judd Winick

As mentioned in earlier reviews, I sometimes struggle with graphic novels. Although a child of the TV generation, I never learned to multitask quite as well as today’s youth, and my ability to track both images and words in a story is limited (don’t get me started on my strong distaste for subtitled films). And yet. Every once in a while you come across a graphic novel so good, you forget it is a graphic novel and just “read” it. This is one of those books. Judd Winick was on an MTV program called “Real World”, where young people were placed together in apartments around the world and forced to live with each other’s eccentricities all in the light of a constant set of cameras set to record their every argument and tryst. In Judd’s case, there was a twist. He was a fairly unassuming young cartoonist who was given a flamboyant young Cuban man, Pedro Zamora, as a roommate. Pedro had AIDS. Judd chronicles his experience confronting his own fears and his learning curve about the disease in this powerful nonfiction graphic novel. Judd and Pedro became friends, and Judd took on the very public fight to educate people about HIV when Pedro could not carry on. For a cartoonist, the prose is excellent. I think this is because Judd speaks honestly and openly. There isn’t any effort at “pretty literary technique” here, it’s just a real person, talking in depth about a very real event (which is not to say that it isn’t smart…he quotes John Irving at one point). This isn’t one of those “touching” books, it’s one of those “rip out your heart” books. Even thinking about it today makes me feel very weepy, but I truly believe it is one of the most powerful and intelligent books I have ever read. I don’t just recommend it, I think it should be a required read in every high school in America. Just don’t forget the Kleenex. Or your outrage.

Holes by Louis Sachar

This is one I call a “good Newbery”. Winning the award in 1999, “Holes” has quickly become one of the modern classics. Sachar weaves a clever, funny, touching and unexpected tale of Stanley Yelnats, a boy who was simply born to be a loser. Arrested for a crime he did not commit, he is found guilty and sent to the desert to dig holes. While his body undergoes dramatic changes, his outlook on the world changes as well. He discovers he is cursed, and a parallel story of the past begins to unfold in alternate chapters. Sachar is smart. His dialog makes you think, then smile, as you realize how he “grows” the different elements of his story. The twists come rapidly throughout the book, and I didn’t see a one of them coming – and with all the books I read, I love a “fresh” story. There were bellylaughs combined with deep sighs of frustration at the lot Stanley has been given. It is a rare and gifted author who can twist your heart from one extreme to the other over and over in a short period of time. Bravo to Mr. Sachar, may generations of kids enjoy this story in the years to come!

Homeless Bird by Gloria Whelan

In the first (and I think best) of Gloria Whelan’s books about girls in other lands, “Homeless Bird” tells the story of Koly, a 13 year-old Indian girl trapped by culture and custom. Told simply and beautifully, the prose sometimes reads like poetry. What I like about this is that Koly is a true Indian girl. Western sensibilities do not enter in here, we get to see life in that world as it is, not how a liberal voice might redraw the character as some Disneyfied feminist hero. I learned a lot about India from this short little book (perfect for Middle School) and was happy that an upbeat ending was woven in without seeming in any way forced. The metaphor of sewing quilts pervades the book, and makes for a gentle, touching thread that wraps itself around you as you read. This is one of those rare treasure books, a little tale told grandly.

Woman in the Wall by Patrice Kindl

This one remains one of my favorite off-beat quirky tales. Basically, Anna, an extremely shy young girl, begins to “fade” in her household. She becomes the proverbial cipher, so withdrawn that her own family stops noticing her. The story takes on fantastical elements, as Anna hides inside the handbag of a visiting school official, eventually, Anna begins to live inside the walls of her home. She makes only ghost-like appearances to her family, baking or sewing things as they need, but the family appears to forget her altogether. While it sounds sad, I did not find it so and was totally engaged by the first person narrative from the intriguing opening page. Perhaps I like it because I recognize that element in ourselves that put up walls to protect us from others. I also like the literary “fling” that Kindl takes – mixing mystery, fantasy and reality in a blend that is vaguely reminiscent of Kafka and his ilk. The book also has a strange similarity to Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean’s picture book, “The Wolves in the Walls” (published later). I haven’t been able to sell this one to many students. They see it as too disturbing, perhaps, to be forgotten like this, but I think if folks are willing to enter Anna’s world, they would find some magic they don’t expect. If you are a fan of David Almond’s “Skellig”, try this one out as well.

Cuba 15 by Nancy Osa

A charming and slightly fluffy novel, this tells the tale of Violet Paz, a young Hispanic American, trapped between the culture of her household and her suburban school existence just before her Quinceanero, the latin celebration of womanhood. This perfect middle school novel succeeds in its charm, universality, ability to paint the grownups in Violet’s life with a “real” brushstroke (Grandpa is particularly interesting) and leave things a little messy and unresolved at times. Violet’s friends are portrayed with individual voices and personalities and come off as people you may know. It has that “Real Women Have Curves” and “Bend It Like Beckham” feel in terms of mothers and daughters fighting for their roles, but it never delves very deep, and characters beyond Violet and her family and best friends remain as two dimensional as a CW teen show. Don’t look for meaning, but worth it for a fun weekend read.

Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

Well, I avoided reading this one for a long time. Despite its constant presence on the best-seller lists, I knew it would be depressing, and I don’t like depressing. But then it came up as the pick for a bookclub I wanted to join, so I dove in. Bottom line: Yes, it is sad, but not as sad as I expected. It is also enlightening and very well written. The story is that of Amir, a privileged boy in Afghanistan who emigrates to America in the late 1970s as war overtakes his country. The story focuses on Amir’s guilt over an incident in his childhood. It is not this “great theme” of the book, however, that engaged me. It was the simple, everyday activities of boys playing and growing up that struck me. There are tremendous parallels to childhood life in the U.S. at the time – the boys grab snacks before going out to climb trees, for instance, but there are also subtle differences. The snacks aren’t poptarts and the game isn’t tag football. The boys eat pistachio nuts and the play is with slingshots and kite cutting contests (which was completely alien to me). I think the book succeeds in its ability to shake our preconceptions of what “is” in that part of the world. I was struck by the fact that Amir’s Muslim father is not very religious, often condemning the leaders of their faith for what he sees as hypocrisy. So much for the stereotype of all Muslims as deeply devout and religious – what an interesting surprise to see that they are as varied in their spiritual commitments as Americans are. In the picture painted here, the people of Kabul also hold many of the same ethnic biases as we struggle with. Although they are of one faith, the people in this tale draw strong divisions based on heritage. All people of their city are not equal. Where the book failed for me somewhat was the intense “handling” by the author. He clearly had a point to make and worked his plot around that point by forcing some literary elements (making all action cyclical, for instance). This created some improbabilities that kept me at an emotional distance from some of the action. The more aware I was of the author’s hands in controlling events, the less I believed them. Khaled Hosseini has written a terrific first novel, with a crystal clear vision in it. If he learns to let his stories tell themselves, his future work will likely be quite brilliant.

Digging to America by Anne Tyler

Anne Tyler is good – her Pulitzer Prize is evidence of that, but I had given up on reading her books some time ago. I found her work to be too depressing, and, after “Accidental Tourist”, too close to home. “Digging to America” was the only one of the “Arlington Reads” campaign books I had not read yet, so I decided to give Ms. Tyler another try. Her crisp writing style and visceral descriptions are clear right from the start. A local author, she opens with an arrival scene in the late hours at BWI airport. You can “feel” the space so well that it seems like you are there. After this prologue, she delves into the stories of two Baltimore families who adopted Korean children that night. One family is a liberal leaning Caucasian family, the other, Iranian Americans who struggle with the balance between their current and past cultures. Each chapter swings from one voice to the next, weaving the storyline over successive years. There is nothing extraordinary here, no deep tragedies or high drama, just the stuff that makes up day to day life. That, I think, is where Anne Tyler excels. These are real people. They are flawed, but she never judges them, she just lets them be who they are, both good and bad. I particularly liked Maryam’s comment near the end of the story that the real cultural battle may be one between men and women, not different races. This story is more upbeat than others of hers I have read. I was again saddened by one of the storylines, but yes, I think it is because it may have hit too close to home (and the resolution of this character’s issues seemed to me to be the one somewhat forced moment in the book). Overall, excellent and compelling. This 275 page book made for an intense and detailed read.

Life is Funny by E.R. Frank

This up and coming author writes powerful novels that reflect her job as a social worker in New York city. This book, like her others, changes perspective from chapter to chapter among inner city teens facing a variety of challenges. Some storylines are resolved to a degree, like the one about the teen parent. Others, such as the Muslim girl struggling with the dissonance between her world and her culture, are left hanging in limbo. While this may feel frustrating, the glory of E.R. Frank’s style is her intense realism. The voices jump off the page, the characters becoming painfully and delightfully complex human beings. I simply loved this book and can’t wait to read “America”, a more recent addition to the author’s efforts. I challenge anyone to hold onto racial stereotypes as they delve into this multicultural mix of often surprising first person narratives. E.R. Frank is a fresh voice in teen literature, and one I suspect we will be hearing more from.